THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER for LEADING STUDIES and the MEDITERRANEAN AGRONOMIC INSTITUTE of CHANIA present the rd 3 Chania – Med Forum on Economy, Energy, Politics & Power Speakers & Guests July 23-26, 2015 Thales room the Conference Center of MAICh Crete, Greece 1 | P a g e Eleftherios Anghelopoulos Ambassador ad.H, Senior Policy Advisor, The Greek Association for Atlantic and European Cooperation Eleftherios Anghelopoulos (Law, Athens University ; Sociology, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris), joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1979 and served abroad, as Ambassador of Greece, in Ottawa (2010-2014) and Tbilisi (2005-2007). Previous diplomatic positions include: Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Greece in Washington DC (2002-2005), Counsellor at the Embassy in Moscow (1996 -1999), Consul of Greece in Houston, TX (1989 -1993) and expert on International Development Cooperation (1983-1988) at the Permanent Representation of Greece to the EU in Brussels. In Athens, he worked as Director General for International Economic Relations, Director of the Balkan Affairs Department and the Diplomatic Office of the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Head of the Office of European Parliament. Ambassador Anghelopoulos is married to Dr. Anastasia Anthi, MD and have two children. Stavros Arnaoutakis Governor of Crete Stavros Arnaoutakis was born in 1956 and grew up in Archanes of Iraklion in Crete. He is an economist. From 1981 to 1991 he was an executive in a private business. In the Local Government elections of 1990 he was elected Mayor of Archanes at the age of 34. He served as Mayor of Archanes until 2004, as his fellow-citizens elected him for four consecutive periods. As Mayor of Archanes he started the implementation of a development plan, the philosophy of which was based on the close cooperation of local authorities and entities and the effective use of the human resources of the area. The following factors played a catalytic role in the implementation of this plan: Optimum use of European programs, cooperation of the municipality with scientific bodies and universities and practical application of available expertise for developing more effective interventions. During his office Archanes was awarded the following prizes:2nd Award in the European Contest "Integrated and Sustainable Development of Exceptional Quality" in 2000, and 1st Award in the Contest "Local development respecting the natural environment and the human being" in 2002. From 1991 to 2004 he was the Chairman of Iraklion Development S.A. From this position he managed the implementation of many European Programs, the results of which were evident both in the Municipality of Archanes and in the rest of the peripheral municipalities of the Regional Unit of Iraklion. It was because of his initiative that Iraklion Development became the first development company in Greece to acquire its own office in Brussels, with the aim of claiming and optimally implementing European Programs. By decision of the President of the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PA.SO.K.), Giorgos A. Papandreou, he was placed in the 4th position of the European ballot paper in the European Parliament elections in 2004. From 2004 to 2009, in his capacity as a member of the European Parliament, he was a member of the 2 | P a g e Regional Development Committee, of the Fishery Committee and of the Delegation of Relations with the People’s Republic of China. In the parliamentary elections of 2009 he was elected a PA.SO.K. Member of Parliament and was appointed Vice Minister of Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping. In the elections of November 2010 he was elected the first elective Regional Governor of Crete.He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Union of Regions of Greece. He is a member of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR).He is a regular member of the Committee of the Regions. Prof. Dr. George Atsalakis Assistant Professor, Technological Forecasting, the School of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete Dr. George Atsalakis is Assistant Professor of Technological Forecasting, at the School of Production Engineering and Management at Technical University of Crete, Greece. He received the Diploma in Business Administration from the Economical University of Athens, Greece. He received the M.Sc. degree in Business Administration and the PhD degree in Stock market forecasting from Technical University of Crete in 2000 and 2006, respectively. Dr. Atsalakis' research interests are focused in the areas of forecasting in the local and international markets, in technological forecasting, in forecasting of entrepreneurship evolution and forecasting of innovative economies and societies. He is using fuzzy, neuro-fuzzy and neural networks as modeling tools. He has published 2 books and over 90 book chapters, scientific journals and conference papers. Dr Atsalakis has also organized and implemented international conferences, specialized seminars and short courses. He also acts as a Referee in various journals concerned with fuzzy, neuro-fuzzy, and neural network modeling. Prof. Dr. George Baourakis Director, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania Dr. George Baourakis is the Director of the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh) since June 2012, and the Studies and Research Coordinator of the Business Economics and Management Department of MAICh since 1989. He has more than two decades’ experience in the management and coordination of educational and research activities, including coordination of the MSc Programme of MAICh-CIHEAM, organization of international seminars and training courses both at MAICh and in many other Mediterranean countries, and scientific, economic and administrative management of research projects. He has co-ordinated and participated in a large number of EU (FP 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, INTERREG I, II and III- Archimed, MED, Tempus, Phare, Life, Lifelong Learning, Leonardo Da Vinci, European Social Fund/Operational Sectoral Programme), international and national-regional research projects (Ministry of Rural Development and Food, Ministry of Economy, etc). He is an Affiliate Professor in Marketing and Supply Chain Management, at the Centre of Entrepreneurship, Nyenrode University, The Netherlands Business School. He has been appointed as Distinguished Research Fellow in Food Marketing-Management at several 3 | P a g e universities. He has published numerous papers in internationally refereed scientific journals, presented extensively at international conferences, and authored/co-authored several scientific and academic books and special issues which have been distributed by renowned publishing houses. Dr. Baourakis has lectured as an Invited Speaker in many internationally recognized Universities and has served as an OECD Consultant on regionalization and rural governance. He has organized and implemented international conferences and specialized seminars in cooperation with Universities and Research Institutes of many countries (Turkey, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal, etc) and a large number of short courses mainly addressed to executives of the public sector of several countries (Palestine, Romania, Armenia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Iran, Albania, etc), co-organised and financed by the Ministry of Rural Development and Food. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Food Products Marketing (Routledge), the Journal of Food Economics (Taylor & Francis), the Journal of Computational Optimization in Economics and Finance (Nova Publishers), and the Journal of Agricultural and Food Economics (Springer). He is also acting as a Referee in various journals concerned with food marketing, management and finance. He has served for many years as President of the Economic Chamber of W. Crete, Executive Member of ANEK LINES, and Secretary General of a large coop retail chain (INKA). Dr. Antonia Oana Colibasanu Associated Lecturer, Academy of Economic Studies, University of Bucharest, Romania Dr. Antonia Oana Colibasanu is the Founder of Books for Peace, a non-profit organization focused on promoting peace through education and culture, she worked with various organizations like the University of Bucharest, GAAEC, UNOY and Oxfam in various educational programs, serving both as lecturer and organizer to various seminars. Since the beginning of 2011 she is also the Vice – President of International Marketing at the US geopolitical analysis company Stratfor. She started working with Stratfor in 2006 and where she has hold positions like regional consultant, researcher and director of research for Eurasia before working in international marketing. Considering her passion on international affairs and education, since 2007 – when she began to study for her PhD in international business and economics – has been a guest speaker at various courses at the Romanian Academy of Economic Studies and an associated lecturer for courses on Research Methodology, Economic Growth and Development, International Organizations or Diplomacy. She has finished her PhD research in March 2011 when she successfully defended her thesis on country risk and investment decision making process in international business. She is currently a contributor on foreign affairs and global business environment to Financial Times – experts discussion platform, Long Room and to Euractiv – BlogActiv. 4 | P a g e Elaine Dundon Co-founder, CEO, The OPA! Way®, Professor, Innovation Management, University of Toronto Elaine Dundon is co-founder